The Split Screen Technique: A Concrete Means for Handling Physical Immobility and Cross-Cultural Tensions in Psychodrama

Abstract

In this article, I describe the Split Screen technique that I developed during a classical psychodrama in which there were two particular difficulties: (a) an auxiliary ego cast by the protagonist in a major role was almost totally immobilized by a physical disability, yet when called upon, was willing and able to participate with affect in a number of scenes; and (b) the resistance of the protagonist to revisiting or seeing the applicability of childhood scenes from a very different culture containing the roots of the current problem being dealt
with in her adult life. The Split Screen is a technique that could be useful for other directors working with one or more immobile or disabled members in a group. Moreover, the Split Screen technique may be useful and effective in other kinds of circumstances, particularly resistance and cross-cultural conflicts. My spontaneous development and successful use of the Split Screen technique may encourage therapists to be creative in their adaptations of direction in other situations.